OSHA requires that construction workers working on high rise buildings are protected from falling by restraining devices. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires fall protection devices to be positioned around building perimeters, interior stairwells, and elevator shafts over six feet above grade. The most common method used by contractors is welding 4-ft 4-in ×4-in ×¼-in steel angles having holes drilled at the appropriate height to conform to OSHA requirements (see FIG. 1). The angle posts 3 are positioned vertically, as depicted, thereby forming support posts. OSHA requires that successive posts be positioned no further than eight feet apart. Two steel cables 5 are normally threaded horizontally through the holes connecting the posts and forming a fence. The bottom 4 of the posts are welded to an I-beam 2. A flooring material 1 then covers the weld. FIG. 2 shows a single angle bracket 3 welded to an I-beam 2 at its bottom 4 with steel cables 5 threaded through the holes.
Once a story has been constructed, the safety fence is no longer required and must be removed prior to enclosure of the story. Once the steel cables are removed from the posts, post removal is commonly accomplished by cutting the post bracket near the floor/roof line. After such cutting, the brackets have a height that is shorter than the OSHA required 42-inches. Thus the brackets cannot be re-used for subsequent projects and become scrap metal. New posts must be used on each subsequent story construction, a rather costly practice.
There have been a number of attempts to solve this problem with reusable protection systems. In almost all known systems, each fence post comprises a horizontal base and a vertical post. Normally, the base and post form an integral unit. Now, these attempts at creating a reusable support include:                screwing the base to the floor;        clamping the base to the floor;        a combination of screwing and clamping the base to the floor; and,        securing the base to the floor with a peg-in-slot mechanism.It has been found that screwing the base to the floor is not practical when securing the base to a steel I-beam. A single unit base and post also does not allow for an attachment point for future use of accessories. Clamping devices do not allow construction to be completed (including “closing in” the floors and roof) without the removal of the device. Of particular note is U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,819 to Lopez for an “Attachable/Detachable Railing Device” which teaches a post that screws into a base which is secured to the grating of an offshore oil platform via a peg-in-slot method. This is impractical for building construction because it requires a grating.        
The disclosed system is designed for use preferably in the construction industry, particularly with regard to high-rise buildings. None of the prior art has been implemented in this industry despite a long-felt need for a more cost-effective safety system. The disclosed embodiments provide a base plate with a removable support post. The base plate is welded to an I-beam, and the support post is reusable.